4 Answers
4

To receive, get (something given, bestowed, or administered); to have
conferred upon one (spec. a sacrament, office, order of merit, degree,
etc.)

That confirms my first thought that you can only take a degree once you have earned it. Before you reach that stage you have to study for a degree or, much less formally, do a degree. In British universities you can read for a degree, but that has a rather stiff sound to it these days.